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Yep - jhl99 has put some serious work into putting this route together, it may be exactly what you are looking for.  Stay posted.

Any updates?

All clear now to just north of Rt. 80.  Still a few sections yet to figure out.  Picture attached, name ended up being a misnomer, lucky for us!

jhl99 and ruthslp have been scouting out southern portion of PA and have some great routes. I added a few miles from Greenwood Furnace heading north.  Almost to RB Winter at this point.  Here are a few shots from sights along the proposed trail in Bald Eagle, a bit of the Wilderness 101 route.  The tunnel you actually ride through, it is about a 7' opening on the narrow end, part of a rail grade out of Poe Paddy.  Quite a few sections/miles of sweet single track through Michaux, Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests.  Passing on the new parts to jhl99 and will continue working north.  A big thanks to jhl99 and ruthslp for all their work!    

jbphilly - catch a ride on the MegaBus from Philly to State College, will cost you about $50 round trip... http://www.megabus.com/  You have all of Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests, well over 100,000 acres of land.  Fireroads, old jeep roads and single track galore.  Camping opportunities with facilities numerous.  For Rothrock, the best map would be the Purple Lizard Maps.  Google them, will cost a few bucks but worth it.  The Bald Eagle version will be out in the fall.  Glad to get you pointed in the right direction if you decide to come up.  Only catch is I am not sure what to tell you about getting your bike here via the bus.  The best shop I can recommend if you wanted to ship it would be FreezeThaw Cycles in State College (they are a surly dealer btw).  Shout if you need a hand.

Batty - how did your trip go?  Sorry I missed out on that.  Use to do alot of backpacking in those areas when I lived in Gettysburg area.  Jeff - thanks for sharing, great pics!

Hoping to start riding some segments of this soon.  First rides will be from State College, PA north toward Mansfield and NY border.  Single track and dirt as much as possible.

Sounds great Swampboy.  Keep things updated if you can.  Jeff has been piecing the parts together.  I am looking forward to starting to ride this in the spring.  Probably will just do some scouting trips then and make a go of the whole route late June.  NY to VA.  I am in state college area and this route literally goes by my back door so easy access from home.  It includes a little of the Wilderness 101 route and some of the Trans Epic race course.  A big thanks to Jeff for all the work putting the parts together.  I was having alot of difficulty getting the softwares and files to work nicely with each other.

Is this route ready to ride now or not till October of 2012?  Saw the page, http://alleghenymountainsloop.blogspot.com/2012/01/allegheny-mountains-loop-2012.html

There are several lakes that the trail could be near.  I guess the key question is what a "long distance" swim is.  Most of the state parks have designated swimming areas where you could do laps.

Excellent!  How do I post it on FB?  Do you have to be a vimeo member?

Found it - "Welcome Home" by radical face.....good find and again, great job with your video.

Great job.  Started having flashbacks of the "127 Hours" movie!!  Who is in the soundtrack?

Yes.  Here is the recent post from Chris's trip. 

Virginia Mountain Bike Trail

  We couldn't get all single track but could definitely make a nice ride through PA.

Some great stuff here.  Thanks to JHL99 for pointing me to this thread.  How many of the earlier posters are still following this?  I have been working on a north/south PA route to tie into the Virginia section (400 miles) Chris Scott has been guiding on.  Just need a few people to correspond with in northern and southern sections of the state.  Trying to pull in the maximum amount of single track followed by dirt roads and the inevitable blacktop.  I started a post over at http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,2564.new.html#new but no sense having two different threads going.

Also need a few words of wisdom regarding what website or software would be best for mapping this out.  I have my Garmin data for rides but not sure that would work best for everyone to view but then again, with single track that doesn't exist on maps, that might be the way to go.

Something to share from another thread...this is the Virginia system.... be sure to check out the video. http://shenandoahmountaintouring.blogspot.com/2011/11/virginia-mountain-bike-trail-it-is.html

Thanks for your reply.  I was starting to wonder if anyone was out there!  You had a good ride, almost ended up in my back yard!  I live over by Spring Mills (Bald Eagle SF).  The 400 miler is, in part, the Great Eastern Trail.  Chris Scott has a single tract route he just completed along with some other riders.  I don't have the route specifics but know it ends south of Roanoke and starts near Winchester.  So, it doesn't extend the whole way to the borders, yet.  As soon as I heard about it I started envisioning an east coast Tour Divide.  I have been pouring over the PA maps and think there are several options for a n/s route.  Wellsboro/Mansfield was an easy start point with the rail trail already in place.  Obviously there are multiple options with the SF roads up there.  Getting to RB Winter didn't look too tough.  There are quite a few established single tract routes there.  Weaving into Bald Eagle and then jumping on established trails and dirt road from the Wilderness 101 race and you can get to Greenwood Furnace easy.  Then it gets a little sketchy making the way south toward Cowans Gap.  I know there is alot of single track in Michaux but that pulls you in close to more populated areas just for the sake of getting single track.  The idea would be maximum wilderness riding miles.  I think if a couple people did some exploring we could come up with something decent.  Interested?  Where in the state are you?  Thanks again for the reply.

This site should be helpful.  Tuscarora is hike only but follow in that general path, Standing Stone into Greenwood area of Rothrock SF.  Through Bald Eagle on Wilderness 101 trails, out through Woodward to RB Winter then following general direction of the Mid State (hike only) system....etc.....   

http://www.explorepatrails.com/gm_trails.aspx

Anybody in the northern or southern areas of PA willing to help stitch things together?

Anyone interested in helping to put together a route N/S through PA connecting to the new single track route that goes N/S through Virginia?  Would want as much single track as possible and dirt roads.  Maybe start up toward Mansfield moving down through Wellsboro, some rail trail into RB Winter Area, Bald Eagle SF hooking into some Wilderness 101 route, over towards Spruce Creek and working south to Michaux area?  I have the center part of the state pretty much figured out as I live near State College.  Just need some input on routes in the northern and southern sections.  PA should be around 300 miles.  Connect that to 400 or so miles of trail through VA and we have the start of an east coast version of the Tour Divide

Anyone have a raingear recommendation?  Hoping to find something lightweight and easily packable with zippered vents and a few pockets, decent visibility.  A plus would have a hood that could go over my helmet. 

Thanks for any tips and advice you can recommend.